In a frontal impact of a motor vehicle the impact energy is absorbed and reduced mainly by the front end. However, in cases where an overlapping contact between the vehicle and the other party to the collision is less than approximately 25% of the total width of the vehicle body, which is referred to here as a highly offset frontal impact, a significant portion of the vehicle structure designed and otherwise able to reduce the impact may not effectively contribute to energy absorption. “Highly offset” collisions are alternatively referred to as “small overlap” collisions.
The following prior art references disclose various possible ways of reinforcing the vehicle front end: U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,958; DE 102007018474A1; EP 0810144B1; and DE 102006009290B4.